The present invention relates to a guide wire for intravascular investigations, provided with electrical conductors along its length.
In a further aspect the invention relates to a proximal male connector for a guide wire. The invention also relates to a method of manufacturing a guide wire.
A male connector and a guide wire of the type identified in the preamble are disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/9028,677, Akerfeldt et al., entitled "Male connector with a continuous surface for a guide wire and method therefor" ("Akerfeldt") (assigned to the same assignee as the present application) (expressly incorporated herein).
One problem with guide wires of the type disclosed in said application is the extremely difficult manual assembling procedure required to make these devices. The extremely small components must be assembled under microscope, which is very tedious and labor intensive.
Another problem with guide wires of this type is to make them rotationally symmetric to the greatest extent possible. This is desirable in order that the manipulation of the guide wire in the blood vessels be independent of the direction of movement of the wire during insertion. This is a difficult task if separate wires are provided in the guide wire along its length, which is the commonly adopted technique today.
The guide wire disclosed in Akerfeldt is made by imbedding discrete electrical leads in a plastic sleeve, which provides insulation between the leads and a core wire around which the sleeve is provided, and a smooth surface.
There are several advantages with this design over the designs previously known, such as, for example there is a reduced risk of electrical short-circuiting and also it is easy to clean the surface from blood by virtue of it being smooth.
Although the connector and guide wire disclosed in Akerfeldt represents improvements in connector and guide wire design, there is still the disadvantage of the devices having to be assembled manually to a very great extent, and not being fully rotationally symmetric.